Your light turns green while a pedestrian is still lawfully crossing in front of you. What should you do?
Correct answer: Yield until the pedestrian is clear of your path.
A green signal permits movement, but it does not cancel the duty to yield to people and vehicles lawfully in the intersection or adjoining crosswalk.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-202(c); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You want to turn right at a steady circular red light. No sign prohibits the turn. What is required first?
Correct answer: Make the required stop, then yield and turn only when it is safe.
A permitted right turn on red follows a complete stop and yielding to lawful crosswalk users and conflicting traffic. The absence of a prohibition sign does not remove those duties.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-202(h), (i)(1) and (k); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
A traffic signal at an ordinary road intersection flashes red. How should you treat it?
Correct answer: Stop, then follow the right-of-way rules that apply after a stop sign.
A flashing red intersection signal requires a stop. Afterward, proceed under stop-sign rules when it is safe; this provision is not the separate railroad-crossing rule.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-204(b)–(e); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You have stopped at a nonfunctioning signal. A vehicle is still in the intersection. Does your stop alone let you enter?
Correct answer: No; you must yield and wait until it is safe to continue.
Stopping is only the first duty. You must also yield to users already in the intersection and keep stopped until your movement can be made safely.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-209(2)–(3); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
A U-turn is otherwise permitted, but an approaching vehicle is close enough to create an immediate danger. What is required?
Correct answer: Yield before making the U-turn.
Permission to make a U-turn does not provide priority over approaching traffic. You must yield when an approaching vehicle is an immediate danger.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-402(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
Your turn signal is on, but moving from the shoulder into traffic would force another driver to brake sharply. Should you move?
Correct answer: No; the movement must be reasonably safe.
A signal communicates an intention. Maryland separately requires a move from a shoulder or bikeway onto the roadway, or another change of course, to be reasonably safe.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-604(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
An obstruction requires you to cross the center of the road. An oncoming vehicle is close and is using its unobstructed side. What must you do?
Correct answer: Yield to the oncoming vehicle before moving around the obstruction.
When an obstruction makes a move left of center necessary, you must yield to traffic properly using the unobstructed side when it is close enough to be an immediate danger.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-301(a)(2); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
No exception allowing a pass on the right applies. How should you overtake a vehicle moving in your direction?
Correct answer: Pass to its left with a safe separation.
The normal overtaking rule calls for passing on the left at a safe distance. Separate provisions define when passing on the right is permitted.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-303(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
The vehicle ahead is preparing to turn left. Is that fact alone enough to make passing it on the right lawful?
Correct answer: No; the pass must also be safe and meet the roadway requirements.
A vehicle making or preparing a left turn is one situation in which a right-side pass may be allowed, but safety and the restrictions on where you drive still apply.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-304(a)(1) and (b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
Your mirror shows a gap in the next lane. What must be established before moving out of your lane?
Correct answer: That the complete lane change can be made safely.
A vehicle should stay within a single lane as nearly as practicable and must not leave it until the driver has determined that the move is safe. One observation alone may not reveal every conflict.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-309(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You enter a two-way left-turn lane for a permitted turn. How far should you drive in it?
Correct answer: Only the shortest practicable distance needed for the turn.
Maryland limits travel in this lane to the shortest practicable distance before the left turn or U-turn, or after a left turn. Entering it is not permission to cruise along it.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-309(h); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
After entering the intersection for a left turn, what kind of receiving lane must you use?
Correct answer: A lane lawfully available to traffic moving in your new direction.
The turn must end in a lawful lane for the direction you are entering. The turning movement does not allow you to leave the intersection facing against traffic.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-601(c); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
The posted speed limit is higher than a safe speed for the heavy rain and pedestrian activity ahead. What should guide your speed?
Correct answer: A reasonable, prudent speed for the actual hazards, below the limit when necessary.
Maryland’s basic speed rule requires a reasonable and prudent speed for actual and potential dangers, with appropriate reductions for weather, pedestrians and other hazards. The posted maximum is not always a safe target.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-801(a) and (h); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
On an undivided road, a school vehicle ahead is stopped with alternating red lights. You approach from the opposite direction. How far from its front must you stop?
Correct answer: At least 20 feet.
The stopping distance is at least 20 feet from the school vehicle’s front when approaching it from the front. The different-roadway divided-highway exception does not apply to this undivided road.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-706(a); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You approach a stopped school vehicle with alternating red lights on a four-lane road that has no separate divided roadways. May you pass because there are four lanes?
Correct answer: No; lane count alone does not create the divided-highway exception.
The exception is for a school vehicle on a different roadway of a divided highway. On the undivided road described, meeting and overtaking drivers must stop as required.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-706(a) and (c); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
At an unsignalized crosswalk without an overpass or tunnel, a pedestrian is approaching your half from the adjacent lane on the opposite half. What must you do?
Correct answer: Stop rather than waiting for the pedestrian to step into your own lane.
The stopping rule also covers a pedestrian approaching from an adjacent lane on the other half. It does not allow waiting until the pedestrian is directly in your vehicle’s path.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-502(a)(2)(ii); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
A blind pedestrian using a guide dog or predominantly white cane is crossing. What right-of-way duty applies to you?
Correct answer: Yield to the pedestrian.
Maryland protects blind and partially blind pedestrians using the specified cane or a guide dog. A red tip is not required on a qualifying white or metallic cane.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-511(a)(1); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
A pedestrian begins crossing in the direction of a walking-person signal. What must a turning driver do?
Correct answer: Give the pedestrian the right of way.
A walking-person or Walk indication permits crossing in that direction and requires vehicle drivers to give the crossing pedestrian the right of way.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-203(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You notice a child near the road and an obviously confused person beginning to cross. What additional duty does Maryland state?
Correct answer: Exercise proper precaution for these vulnerable pedestrians.
The law specifically calls for proper precaution when a driver observes a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated individual, alongside the general duty to avoid pedestrians.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-504(c); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You are choosing an ordinary parking spot on the approach to a stop sign at the side of the roadway. What clearance does the state rule require?
Correct answer: Do not stand or park within 30 feet on that approach.
The 30-foot approach restriction applies to roadside flashing signals, stop signs, yield signs and traffic control signals. It helps keep the control visible and the approach usable.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-1003(o); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You want to stop on an entrance ramp of a highway with multiple lanes in your direction simply to check directions. No emergency or traffic-control exception applies. Is that a permitted stopping place?
Correct answer: No; the ordinary rule prohibits stopping, standing or parking on that ramp.
The prohibition includes entrance and exit ramps of highways with two or more lanes in the same direction. A convenience stop to check directions does not meet the scenario’s excluded exceptions.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-1003(a) and (k); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You park a conventional keyed car and will leave it unattended. No statutory exception applies. What should you do before leaving?
Correct answer: Stop the engine, lock the ignition, remove the key and set the brake effectively.
Those are the ordinary unattended-vehicle requirements. The statute has limited exceptions for specified officers and certain brief remote-start or private-property situations; this scenario excludes them.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-1101(a) and (c); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
Before backing a vehicle in a place where backing is otherwise allowed, what must be true?
Correct answer: The movement can be made safely without interfering with other traffic.
Backing is permitted only when it can be done safely and without interfering with other traffic. Reverse lights are a warning, not a right of way.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §21-1102(a); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
An adult sits in the rear seat of a modern passenger car covered by the belt law, without an exemption. What is required?
Correct answer: The adult must wear a seat belt.
Maryland requires rear-seat passengers age 16 or older to be belted in covered vehicles. The statute’s enforcement procedure does not make rear-seat belt use optional.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §22-412.3(c)(3); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
You own a suitable child safety seat but have installed it contrary to its manufacturer’s directions. Does merely owning the seat satisfy the rule?
Correct answer: No; the seat must be installed and used according to the manufacturer’s directions.
The law makes installation and use according to instructions part of compliance. A suitable seat cannot protect as intended if it is used incorrectly.
Source: Maryland Code, Transportation §22-412.2(b); Maryland General Assembly current statute text, reviewed September 15, 2026. ↗
